As early as 1903 the boys organized the Grand Forks High School Debating Society, later to be called "Eclectic". The senior girls formed the Minerva Literary Society, with programs of reading, debates, extemporaneous speaking, and theatricals. Great was the rivalry of the two societies, which debated such subjects as capital punishment, postal savings banks, and shipping subsidies. Betting was said to be "fast and furious, ranging all the way from a package of gum to a box of Johnson's chocolates. " Superintendent Kelly provided a cup on which the name of the winning society could be engraved.